$100 in 1998 is worth $145 in 2015,
because prices increased 45.4% over that period, an average of
2.23% a year.
$100 in 1998 has
the same buying power as
$145
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
45.4%
Average inflation rate
2.23% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$145
Price difference ($100 base)
$45.41
CPI in 1998
163
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 1998 → 2015
$145
$100 in 2015 → 1998
$68.77
What happened to prices between 1998 and 2015
Between 1998 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 163 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 45.4%, which works out to an average of
2.23% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1998 bought what
$0.69 buys in 2015: the 1998 dollar
lost 31.2% of its purchasing power over
these 17 years.
The median household earned about $38,900 in 1998, gas averaged just $1.06 a gallon, its
cheapest of the decade, and a new home cost roughly $152,500. Inflation ran at 1.6% for the
year, the lowest of the 1990s, as a glut of crude oil, worsened by weak demand from Asia’s
slowdown, pushed prices below $11 a barrel by December and pulled pump prices down with them.
The calm at home came alongside real turmoil abroad: in August, Russia devalued the ruble and
defaulted on its domestic debt, rattling markets already unsettled by the Asian financial
crisis, and in September the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management collapsed after its highly
leveraged bets went bad, prompting the Federal Reserve to organize a private-sector bailout by
more than a dozen banks to prevent a disorderly unwinding of its roughly $100 billion in
positions. The Fed also cut interest rates three times that fall, in September, October, and
November, an insurance policy against the global financial turmoil spreading to the U.S.
economy. Cheap oil and a well-timed set of rate cuts left 1998 as a year the U.S. economy
absorbed two foreign financial crises without much of a dent at home.
Every 1998 amount converts to 2015 at the same ratio, 1.45: $1,000 becomes
$1,454, and $10,000 becomes $14,541.
Amount in 1998
Value in 2015
$1.00
$1.45
$5.00
$7.27
$10.00
$14.54
$20.00
$29.08
$50.00
$72.70
$100
$145
$500
$727
$1,000
$1,454
$5,000
$7,270
$10,000
$14,541
$100,000
$145,409
$1,000,000
$1,454,092
Inflation by spending category, 1998–2015
Between 1998 and 2015, energy rose the most, up 97.2%, while apparel fell 5.3%, against 45.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1998
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1998 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.23%
$145
Energy
4.07%
$197
Medical care
3.67%
$185
Food
2.57%
$154
Housing
2.35%
$148
Transportation
2.02%
$141
Core (all items less food & energy)
1.99%
$140
Education & communication
1.90%
$138
Recreation
0.81%
$115
Apparel
-0.32%
$94.66
Decade by decade: 1998 to 2015
Prices climbed fastest in the 1990s, averaging 2.78% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.68% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1998–2015 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1998, at end
1998–2000
2.78%
5.6%
$106
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$134
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$145
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1998
$100 from 1998 had already become $124 by
2006, on its way to $145 in 2015; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.8% in 2008, and prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 1998 had the buying
power of $145; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 1998 to 2015: $100 is worth $145 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1998 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1998-to-2015/